GULLS FACING BIGGER FIXTURE LOG JAM AS SHOTS IS CALLED OFF

Torquay United will be facing a bigger fixture pile up in 2013 after their second fixture of the festive period was postponed.

The Gulls were due to meet Aldershot Town at the EBB Stadium, but due to a waterlogged pitch the match has been called off.

Following the postponement of the Devon derby with Exeter City on December 22nd, Torquay now have a second fixture which they are looking to re-arrange.

However, their league clash with Rotherham United that was due to take place on January 5th, but had to be re-arranged because of the Millers' continued involvement in the FA Cup, will now take place on February 12th 2013.

DAVIDS TAKE SOLE CONTROL ON EVE ON HIS FIRST TRIP TO DEVON

Former Netherlands international Edgar Davids will begin his reign as sole head coach of Barnet against Exeter City tomorrow following the departure from Underhill of former Grecians winger Mark Robson.

Since mid-October the former Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus, Inter and Spurs midfielder had been in joint charge of the Bees with Robso. During this time the Bees have moved three points clear of the relegation zone following their 1-0 win over high flying Gillingham on Boxing Day.

Tomorrow will be Davids' first visit to Devon during his illustrious career and he will also be visiting the county twice more later on in the season when the Bees face Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United.

Meanwhile, the Grecians will be looking to get back to winning ways after losing 3-1 to Oxford United on Boxing Day and drawing with Plymouth on December 15th.

GULLS SET NEW RECORD FOR UNBEATEN RUN OF LEAGUE MATCHES AGAINST THE PILGRIMS

In drawing with Plymouth Argyle on Boxing Day 2012, Torquay United set a new record of unbeaten league matches against the Pilgrims.

The Gulls are now unbeaten in their last five league encounters with the Pilgrims, a run that started, ironically, on Boxing Day 2001 when Torquay drew 2-2 with Paul Sturrock's promotion bound Pilgrims.

Fast forward a decade, to last season, and the Gulls completed their first double over Argyle in over 40 years as they won 3-1 at Plainmoor in November 2011 with Eunan O'Kane scoring a brace before Danny Stevens prior to Will Atkinson pulling one back for the Pilgrims.

This is Torquay's biggest ever winning margin over Argyle in a competitive game.

The double was completed on January 2nd 2012 when Billy Bodin and Lee Mansell struck to give the Gulls a two goal cushion before Luke Young reduced the Pilgrims arrears to a single goal.

Earlier this season, the two sides played out a goalless draw at Plainmoor before the return meeting in the festive period which saw Tyler Harvey write his name into South West footballing folklore with a late equaliser for Argyle.

December 26th 2001

Plymouth Argyle 2 (Graham Coughlan, Ian Stonebridge) Torquay United 2 (Brian McGlinchey og, Richard Logan pen)

November 19th 2011

Torquay United 3 (Eunan O'Kane (2), Danny Stevens) Plymouth Argyle 1 (Will Atkinson)

January 2nd 2012

Plymouth Argyle 1 (Luke Young) Torquay United 2 (Billy Bodin, Lee Mansell)

September 8th 2012

Torquay United 0 Plymouth Argyle 0

December 26th 2012

Plymouth Argyle 1 (Tyler Harvey) Torquay United 1 (Aaron Downes)

HARVEY SECURES DERBY POINT ON FULL DEBUT

Tyler Harvey picked the perfect time to score his first goal for Plymouth Argyle as he netted a late equaliser on his full debut in the Pilgrims Boxing Day Devon derby encounter with Torquay United.

The encounter between the two sides was goalless when Aaron Downes headed home his fourth of the season for the Gulls when he headed home a Kevin Nicholson corner on 78 minutes.

However, Torquay were denied all three points when 17-year-old Harvey struck from close range in the dying minutes of the game, following good work from Luke Young, to secure a valuable point for Argyle.

YULETIDE GREETINGS

On this Christmas Eve, I would like to wish a heartfelt Yuletide greeting to all readers of South West Football and a prosperous 2013.


The last few days have seen many football fixtures across the South West postponed due to the adverse wet weather conditions that have affected the region in recent days.

I would like to wish all of your respective teams the best of luck in their corresponding fixtures over the festive period and the blog will continue to be updated right up until New Years’ Eve.

ARGYLE LOOK TO KEEP MINI RUN GOING

After failing to record a win in any kind of competition for nine matches, Plymouth Argyle are currently on a run of three games without defeat.

Between October 6th when they defeated Rochdale 3-1 at Home Park and their 2-0 home victory over York City, Argyle failed to record a win in all competitions.

During this period they exited the FA Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the hands of Dorchester Town and Oxford United respectively.

However, the Pilgrims have now followed up their win over the Minstermen with a draw in their Devon derby against Exeter City at St James Park before coming away from Accrington Stanley with a point, which could have been all three had Warren Feeney not been denied from the penalty spot by Stanley keeper Paul Rabchubka.

Argyle boss Carl Fletcher will now be hoping that his side can keep that run going during their remaining festive fixtures which see the Pilgrims take on Torquay United on Boxing Day before they meet Wycombe Wanderers on December 29th before travelling to Bristol Rovers on New Years' Day.

GULLS FACING FIXTURE CONGESTION

Following the postponement of today's Devon derby against Exeter City, Torquay United are now facing a potential fixture back log in the New Year.

Despite the best efforts of the groundsmen of both the Gulls and the Grecians during the week to make sure that the game could go ahead, the decision was taken call off the fixture due a waterlogged pitch.

Both sides will be keen to get the game replayed as soon as possible as they due to meet each other again at the end of January in a game which is being televised live on Sky Sports on Monday January 28th.

It won't the only fixture which Torquay will need to re-arrange as their home clash with Rotherham United, which was due to take place January 5th, as the Millers will be involved in FA Cup third round action with fellow League Two side Aldershot Town.

All eyes now will be on Boxing Day's meeting between the Gulls and Plymouth Argyle.

SKY (WIND)FALL FOR GRECIANS AND GULLS

Torquay United and Exeter City have both received a welcone boost in the build up to their Devon derby clash on Saturday following the announcement that their January re-match is being shown live on Sky Sports.

The match, which was due to take place on January 26th, will now be shown on a Monday night (January 28th) with a 7:45pm kick off.

It will be the first time that a meeting between the two sides has been shown on national television since the Blue Square Conference Play-Off semi-final clashes in the 2007-08 season.

THE GULLS' GRECIANS CONNECTIONS

This Saturday will see Torquay United take part in their first Devon derby with Exeter City since winning promotion back to the Football League in 2009.

It will also see Gulls' manager Martin Ling face the club where he started his playing career.

Ling first joined the Grecians in 1982 as an apprentice after impressing during a week's trial after being spotted playing in a junior tournament in Devon.

He remained at St James Park until 1986 when he moved onto Swindon Town (twice), Southend United, Mansfield Town (loan), Leyton Orient and Brighton and Hove Albion.

During his second spell with Swindon, Ling helped the Robins to win promotion to the Premier League in 1993 alongside current Gulls assistant boss Shaun Taylor who also had a spell with the Grecians earlier in his career.

Taylor arrived at St James Park in 1986, after he was signed for Western League side Bideford, and remained with Exeter until 1991 during which time he was part of the Grecians side that won the Division Four title in the 1989-90 season.

Ling and Taylor aren't the only members of the Gulls' coaching team to have appeared for Exeter during their careers. Goalkeeper coach Kenny Veysey made a dozen appearances for the Grecians during the 1993-94 season and is also one of a select band of players to have appeared for all three of Devon's professional sides.

In addition to this, Torquay Physio Damian Davey also had a spell as Physio at St James Park at the turn of the century and goalkeeper Martin Rice made several appearances for the Grecians during their time in the Conference.

DIRECTOR SEARCH CONTINUES AS WARD CHOOSES PIRATES ROLE

Plymouth Argyle are still on the look out for a Director of Football after the Pilgrims' preferred candidate, John Ward, opted to return to Bristol Rovers as manager.

Ward, 61, had previously managed the Pirates between 1993 and 1996 and, in succeeding Mark McGhee, becomes Rovers' fourth permanent manager in two years and their seventh if Caretaker manager are taken into the equation.

He was one of more than 20 applicants for the role at Home Park and the Pilgrims have announced that they wish to appoint someone to the role sooner than later.

In the meantime, manager Carl Fletcher will be looking ahead to the challenges of a trip to Accrington Stanley and a Boxing Day Devon derby with Torquay United.

He will also be looking to secure the signature of their Exeter derby hero Joe Lennox on a longer deal as his contract expires in January.

LENNOX EARNS ARGYLE A SHARE OF THE SPOILS

Plymouth Argyle winger Joe Lennox picked the perfect time to score his first goal for the Pilgrims to earn his side a point in their Devon derby encounter with Exeter City.

Liam Sercombe had given the Grecians the lead in the 34th minute, but Argyle struck back through Lennox on 73 minutes.

This proved to be enough to secure a point for the Pilgrims who were reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Maxime Blanchard who received a second yellow card for a foul on John O'Flynn in the 88th minute.

The attention now switches to Plainmoor next week where the Grecians take on Torquay United in the second installment of December's three match Devon derby special.

THE DEVON MINI LEAGUE RESUMES

The seasonal run of Devon derby games starts tomorrow at St James Park as Exeter City host Plymouth Argyle in the first of three such meetings during the month of December.

A week later, the Grecians travel to Plainmoor to face Torquay United and then on Boxing Day the Gulls take on Argyle at Home Park.

These are three games where the formbook is likely to go out of the window as it often does on such occasions.

Also, due to the time of year that these games are taking place, they are likely to generate high interest from the Devon football public and therefore higher crowds than for your run-of-the-mill League Two encounter.

Tomorrow's clash between the Grecians and the Pilgrims will have great significance for Exeter striker Alan Gow who was released by the Pilgrims at the 2009-10 season.

He arrived at St James Park last March and has earned rave reviews for his performances as a striker or playing behind the front two.

The Pilgrims will also be looking to build on last week's 2-0 win over York City, their first in nine matches in all competitions.

It will also be the fifth time that Argyle have played the Grecians in the past three seasons, after having gone ten years without playing each other. Of those five encounters the Pilgrims have only won one of those games, which came in December 2010 when Argyle won 2-0 courtesy of a Bradley Wright-Phillips brace.

That is a statistic that Pilgrims boss Carl Fletcher will be looking to improve upon.

THE BINMAN COMETH

Fourteen years ago today, former Everton and Wales goalkeeper Neville Southall made his debut for Torquay United against Hull City.

At the time, the Gulls were second bottom in the Football League and were without a goalkeeper due to an injury sustained by first choice keeper Kenny Veysey.

Manager Wes Saunders acted quickly to bring in the former Wales goalkeeper who had been working as a goalkeeper coach at Huddersfield Town, who, at the time, were managed by Saunders' former Newcastle United teammate Peter Jackson.

Southall had previously appeared at Plainmoor once earlier in his career during the 1980-81 season with Bury before going on to win two League titles, two FA Cups, a European Cup Winners Cup with Everton, along with a record 92 caps for Wales.

He soon made himself at home as he marked his debut with a clean sheet as Torquay defeated the Tigers, who incidentally were bottom of the league and one place below the Gulls, 2-0.

His arrival coincided with an upturn in Torquay's fortunes as they moved away from the foot of the table before eventually reaching safety.

At the end of the season, his efforts were recognised by the Plainmoor faithful as he won the club's Player of the Year award.

The following season saw Torquay challenging for promotion with Southall as the club's first choice keeper with a team that contained a number of strong connections with his former club Everton.

During the close season, the Gulls signed one of Southall's former Goodison teammates Paul Holmes, who had appeared for Torquay earlier in his career, and Everton's FA Youth Cup winning captain of 1998, Mick O'Brien, also signed.

The Gulls captain at the time was Alex Watson, brother of Dave who had appeared alongside Southall during many of his 578 appearances for the Toffees.

In the first half of the season saw Torquay mount a promotion challenge and enjoy their first run to the third round of the FA Cup in a decade.

Their reward for reaching the third round was an away tie against QPR at Loftus Road, a game which saw Southall roll back the years with a virtuoso display as the Gulls drew 1-1 to take the R's to a replay back at Plainmoor, which they lost 3-2.

Southall eventually left Plainmoor on February 2nd 2000 and went on to enjoy a Premiership swansong with Bradford City a month later in the Bantams 2-1 defeat at the hands of Leeds United.

He later have spells as a manager of Dover Athletic, where he signed his former Gulls' teammate Jimmy Aggrey, Hastings United and a caretaker spell in charge of Margate.

Southall is currently working as a teacher in the Kent area, after qualifying for the professional in 2006, and specialises with working with excluded children.

NEVILLE SOUTHALL TUFC STATS:

Debut: 12 December 1998 vs Hull City (Home)

Farewell: 29 January 2000 vs Chester City (Away)

Apperances: 53 League, 4 FA Cup, 2 Worthington Cup, 2 Auto Windscreens Shield.

Honours: 1998-99 Player of the Year.

AN ABLE UNDERSTUDY

This time last week, Tom Cruise featured for Torquay United in their St Lukes Devon Bowl victory over Liverton United.

Four years earlier, Cruise had been appearing for Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League against Olympiakos, a tie that incidentally took place again on the same night as the Gulls' Devon Bowl encounter at Coach Road.

Cruise scored Torquay's equaliser on the night against their South West Peninsular League opponents, which levelled the score at 2-2 and sent the tie to penalties.

His performance earned him praise from manager Martin Ling who described his attitude as being 'spot on' in a match that was being played on a difficult surface.

During his time at the Emirates Stadium, he had served as understudy to Gael Clichy and Kieran Gibbs, whilst currently at Plainmoor, he is serving as the second choice left back behind Kevin Nicholson who, of course, was named in the PFA League Two Team of the Season for the 2011-12 campaign.

So far this season, Cruise has made several cameo appearances for the Gulls and the signs are that he could yet prove to be the long term successor to Nicholson in the left back role.

Over the last 20 years, Torquay United have had a number of fine left-backs, including John Uzzell, Tom Kelly, Paul Gibbs, Robbie Herrera, Brian McGlinchey and, in recent years, Nicholson.

It is also no coincidence that they have all played in some of the Gulls' most successful teams over the years and if the future proves to be bright for Tom Cruise, it could also prove to be bright for Torquay United as well.

SLADE AND JOHNSON TO BATTLE IT OUT ON ROAD TO WEMBLEY

Yeovil Town's next step along their road to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final will see the two most successful managers of the Glovers' Football League era go head to head.

As a reward for beating Wycombe Wanderers in the Southern Area Quarter Finals, Gary Johnson's side will now travel to Leyton Orient who, of course, are managed by Russell Slade, the architect behind Yeovil's last Wembley visit in 2007.

On that occasion, the Glovers faced Blackpool in the League One Play-Off final, where they were beaten 2-0 after disposing of Nottingham Forest in the Semis.

Yeovil's debut Wembley appearance as football league side came four years following their promotion from the Conference (2003) and two years after their League Two title triumph, (2005), both of which were achieved under the guidance of Johnson.

Fast forward to the present and Johnson will no doubt be aware that the Johnstone's Paint Trophy represents a genuine chance for the Glovers to secure a trip to Wembley and, possibly, to lift some silverware.

Should the Glovers defeat Orient, then next up, in the Southern Area final, will be a two-legged encounter with either Southend United or Oxford United, both of whom play in League Two.

So whoever comes out on top between Slade and Johnson will be geniunely feeling that they have a good chance of reaching Wembley should their respective side come out on top when they meet in January.

THE MAGPIES CONNECTIONS

Whilst the South West's four professional sides crashed out of this season's FA Cup in the first round, several players with connections with the game in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset are set to feature for Dorchester Town in their meeting with Luton Town tomorrow.

The Magpies reached the second round for the first time in over 30 years after beating Plymouth Argyle at home in the last round thanks to a second half strike from Exeter City loanee Jake Gosling who was also on the Pilgrims books earlier in his career as a junior player.

Gosling is not the only player in Dorchester manager Phil Simkin's squad who has connections with the Grecians. Goalkeeper Jason Matthews made 14 appearances for Exeter at the turn of the millennium, which included a substitute appearance in their FA Cup third round tie against Everton, for Stuart Naylor, in the 1999-00 season.

Like goal scoring hero Gosling, Jake Reid is also on loan at the Avenue Stadium from the Grecians and left winger Neil Martin and striker Ben Watson have played for Exeter before during their respective careers.

Former Exeter and Torquay striker Richard Logan recently joined the Magpies on non-contract terms, but won't be featuring against Luton as he is cup-tied.

Owing to the geographical proximity of Dorchester to Yeovil, the Avenue Stadium is also home to a number of former Yeovil Town players, namely midfielder Nick Crittenden, who played a key role in helping the Glovers win promotion to the Football League in 2003, left back Jake Smeeton and Lewis Morgan.

Long serving player-coach Mark Jermyn, who provided the assist for Gosling's goal against Plymouth, started his career with Torquay United and made a solitary league appearance for the Gulls in the 1998-99 season. Striker Sam Malsom was also on Torquay's books early in his career and he also had a brief spell, during his varied career, with Plymouth Argyle.

Lastly, but by no means least, Arran Pugh arrived from Truro City shortly before the Magpies first round tie with the Pilgrims due to the financial problems that have seen the Cornish club enter Administration.

Should Dorchester better their FA Trophy result from earlier this week, they drew 2-2 with the Hatters at the Avenue Stadium on Tuesday night, and beat Luton, who are managed by former Torquay United manager Paul Buckle, who also played for the Magpies' great rivals Weymouth Town, it will be the first time that they would have reached the third round of the FA Cup.

DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL WANTED

Plymouth Argyle are on the lookout for a Director of Football to offer support to manager Carl Fletcher and his coaching staff.

The recommendation has been made by new Director Colin Sexstone, who has recently joined the Pilgrims Board after spells as Chief Executive and Chairman of Bristol City, to owner and Chairman James Brent in a bid to improve the footballing knowledge at the club.

Fletcher and his team admirably kept the Pilgrims in the Footballl League last season as they came out of Administration and recovered from a poor start which saw them only pick up one point from their opening ten league games of the 2011-12 campaign.

This season, Argyle have failed to win their last eight games and Sexstone believes the input of an experienced figure can benefit the club.

He said: “Since my appointment, I have had the chance to get to know the club, including talking with Carl Fletcher, whose passion and commitment for his task are quite striking.


“The club appears to be in pretty good shape after its problems of last year.

"However, as the Board has acknowledged, it does not possess the sort of in-depth football experience which I think can greatly benefit Argyle.

"I believe this can be addressed by appointing a Director of Football, initially until the end of the current season.

“It demonstrates the Board's determination to support the manager, as well the manager's willingness to embrace that support.

"Argyle are taking an early position on what we think will become a trend in English football to employ a Director of Football, Sporting Director, Technical Director or similar.


“I am pleased that Carl totally shares the same foresight and welcomes the idea, and he will be a key driver in appointment process.”

Examples of where such a system has been used successfully was at Bristol Rovers during the 2006-07 season when, with Lennie Lawrence acting as Director of Football alongside then manager Paul Trollope, the Pirates won promotion from League Two.

Elsewhere in the Football League, Steve Perryman and Barry Fry are employed as Director of Football at Exeter City and Peterborough United respectively.

GULLS REACH ANOTHER TURNING POINT

As like last season, a 4-1 loss against Southend United could yet again prove to be a turning point for Torquay United under Martin Ling.

The Gulls went down to defeat at Roots Hall in October of last year, which prompted Ling to implement a number of personnel changes, namely the switch from 4-4-2 to a flexible 4-1-4-1 system.

This move saw Rene Howe deployed as a lone front man and Damon Lathrope installed as a holding midfielder, a la Claude Makelele, in front of the defence to compliment the more attacking talents of skipper Lee Mansell and Irish playmaker Eunan O’Kane.

Ling’s plan worked to good effect as the Gulls won their next two games against AFC Wimbledon and Hereford United 4-0 and 2-0 respectively had Plainmoor buzzing again.

This proved to be the start of a run that saw them win 18 of their next 25 league encounters, which lifted them into contention for automatic promotion and helped Ling to win the League Two Manager of the Month awards for January & March 2012.

Only a late blip in their final half a dozen games saw Torquay miss out on a top three spot as they were forced to settle for the Play-Offs, where they were beaten by Cheltenham Town over two legs.

At the start of the current campaign, Ling continued with the system which had served him so well during the previous season.

However, a run of four games without a win that culminated in a 4-1 home defeat against Southend, thanks to doubles from former Gulls loanee Gavin Tomlin and Britt Assombalonga, prompted a re-think from Ling.

In their next league encounter against York City, he reverted to playing a 4-2-3-1 system with Billy Bodin and Danny Stevens playing on the flanks and, in the absence of captain Lee Mansell through suspension, summer signing Craig Easton was drafted into the centre of midfield to partner former Everton starlet Nathan Craig.

Up front Ryan Jarvis was brought into the side to provide support for Howe who had been playing as a lone forward up until that point.

The changes paid dividends as the Gulls won 2-0 with goals from Stevens and right back Joe Oastler and with Dagenham and Redbridge due to visit Plainmoor this Saturday, weather permitting of course, Torquay can feel confident of being able to pull off back-to-back victories, which could, once again, be a turning point in their season.

LUGGY MAINTAINS INDIAN SIGN OVER GULLS

Throughout his managerial career in England, Paul Sturrock has never experienced defeat when he has come up against Torquay United, a run which continued yesterday as the Gulls went down to defeat against his Southend United side.

In 12 encounters against Torquay, during his spells in charge of Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town and Southend, which includes meetings with several different managers, including Wes Saunders, Colin Lee, Roy McFarland, Leroy Rosenior, Ian Atkins, Keith Curle, Paul Buckle and Martin Ling, the former Dundee United and Scotland is yet to lose to the Gulls.

Ex Gulls loanee, and former Yeovil Town striker, Gavin Tomlin set the Shrimpers on their way with an effort on goal on 10 minutes before Britt Assombalonga bagged a brace late in the first half to give Southend three goal lead going into the half-time break.

After the interval, the Shrimpers then extended their lead to four when Tomlin burst through to complete his double within 60 seconds of the re-start.

Torquay did manage to reduce their arrears in the 52 minute when half-time substitutes Niall Thompson and Ryan Jarvis combined to pull a goal back as Thompson's cross was turned home by Jarvis.

However, any prospect of a fight back was snuffed out three minutes later when Gulls skipper Lee Mansell was dismissed with a straight red card for a challenge on Assomlalonga, leaving Torquay searching for their first win against a side managed by Sturrock in a dozen attempts.

The Gulls versus Paul Sturrock: A complete record 

04/11/00 vs Plymouth Argyle (H) D 1-1 Eifion Williams

21/04/01 vs Plymouth Argyle (A) L 1-3 Richard Kell (pen)

08/09/01 vs Plymouth Argyle (H) L 0-1

26/12/01 vs Plymouth Argyle (A) D 2-2 Brian McGlinchey (og), Richard Logan 

26/03/05 vs Sheffield Wednesday (A) D 2-2 Adebayo Akinfenwa, Steve Woods

18/11/06 vs Swindon Town (H) L 0-1

09/04/07 vs Swindon Town (A) L 1-2 Lee Thorpe (pen)

04/09/10 vs Southend United (A) L 1-2 Chris Zebroski

19/02/11 vs Southend United (H) D 1-1 Billy Kee

22/10/11 vs Southend United (A) L 1-4 Lee Mansell

14/04/12 vs Southend United (H) D 0-0

17/11/12 vs Southend United (H) L 1-4 Ryan Jarvis

Footnote: Torquay's 2-1 victory over Southend on the final day of the 2003-04 season, which secured automatic promotion remains their last ever win over the Shrimpers.

CAULKER MAKES HISTORY

England's recent friendly against Sweden in Stockholm will be remembered by those who saw it for many different reasons.

Firstly, it was the night that saw Steven Gerrard join the select group of players who have won 100 caps for England, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's virtuoso performance up front for Sweden and the full England debuts for Raheem Sterling, Leon Osman and Steven Caulker.

As well as pulling on the Three Lions shirt for the first time in his career, Caulker also found his way onto the score sheet when he headed home a free-kick from Gerrard in the 38th minute to give England a 2-1 lead heading into half-time.

The score remain thus, until he was substituted in the 62nd minute after which point it became the ‘Ibrahimovic show’.

For Caulker, his journey from young wannabe footballer to full international began in South Somerset at the start of the 2009-10 season when he joined Yeovil Town on a youth loan from Tottenham Hotspur, along with fellow Spurs starlet Ryan Mason.

From his debut on the opening day of the campaign against Tranmere Rovers to his final appearance for the Glovers in their final home game of the season against Oldham Athletic, Caulker made a positive impact on the Huish Park faithful as he virtually cleaned up at the club’s end of season Player of the Year awards.

After leaving the Glovers, his footballing education continued at Bristol City and Swamsea City. He also received international recognition with England Under-21’s and Team GB at last summer’s Olympics before Andre Villas Boas handed him an extended run in the centre of the Spurs’ defence.

He joins an elite group who have appeared for Yeovil and England, which also includes Dick Pym, Louis Page and Graham Roberts and also, depending on your viewpoint, Sir Ian Botham!

Whereas all of the previously mentioned appeared for Yeovil towards the end of their careers, Caulker played for the Glovers at the start of his. Should he continue to progress in the matter in which he has done, he could yet have many more nights like the one in Stockholm to look forward to.

His journey in recent years has also helped to establish Yeovil’s reputation as a club where young players can learn their trade and develop as footballers. It should also serve as an inspirational tale for the Glovers’ latest crop of young Premiership loanees, which includes Gozie Ugwu, Korey Smith, Dan Burn and Daniel Johnson.

Also, with players such as Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Jamie Carragher and Ledley King having come to the end of their involvement with the England set-up in the last few years: there is a vacancy to be filled in the centre of the English back line in the long term.

With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil looming on the horizon and Euro 2016 taking place in France two years later, Caulker has certainly placed himself firmly in Roy Hodgson’s future thoughts.

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

He may have had to wait a while for it, but Torquay United goalkeeper Martin Rice, at the age of 26, has now made his full debut as a Football League player.

He also emerged from the occasion with great credit as he kept a clean sheet as the Gulls played out a goalless draw against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.

Despite having to wait this long to make his first appearance in the Football League, Rice has appeared in a number of big games for his home town club, Exeter City, where he started his career, Truro City and also in his two spells at Plainmoor.

His tenure with the Grecians started in the 2003-04 season, which was Exeter's first season in the Conference, folllowing their relegation from the Football League in 2003, when he made his first start as a 17-year old.

During his four year stay at St James Park, he appeared in a number of important games for the Grecians, including a Conference Play-Off semi-final against Oxford at the Kassam Stadium where he made an important penalty save. This helped Exeter to seal their place in the 2007 Conference Play-Off final, where they were beaten by Morecambe.

A move down the A38 followed for Martin during the close season as he became one of Paul Buckle's first signings after he was appointed as manager of Torquay United. Martin was one of three players to make the move from the Grecians to the Gulls as he was soon joined by Lee Phillips and Chris Todd.

Although he spent much of the season as understudy to Simon Rayner and Michael Poke, Martin still managed to appear in both legs of Torquay's FA Trophy Semi-Final against York City as well as the final against Ebbsfleet United, where he saved a penalty from Chris McPhee.

Martin remained at Plainmoor as the Gulls won promotion back to the Football League in the 2008-09 season before joining Truro City on loan in the 2009-10 campaign before making the move permanent in September 2009.

Whilst with the White Tigers he enjoyed more success, helping them to win the Southern League Premier Division in the 2010-11 season.

In the summer of 2011, Martin was brought back to Plainmoor as understudy to Bobby Olejnik and only made one appearance, which was in the Football League Trophy against Cheltenham Town.

Following the sale of Olejnik to Peterborough United during the close season, Martin continued to serve the Gulls as a deputy to the returning Michael Poke before being called upon by Ling, firstly as a substitute against Barnet and again on Saturday against Oxford, to stand in for the former Southampton custodian.

It was a certainly a case of good things coming to those who wait as he kept a clean sheet in the process.

MCCORMICK RETURNS TO GAME WITH WHITE TIGERS

Former Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick, who was jailed in 2008 for causing death by dangerous driving, made his return to the game on Saturday for cash-strapped Truro City.

McCormick, 29, had spent his entire career at Home Park prior to being sentenced in 2008 for causing death by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol, in an accident which claimed the lives of Arron Peak, 10, and Ben Peak, 8.

He joined the Conference South side on non-contract terms and played the full 90 minutes of their FA Trophy defeat at the hands of Farnborough Town.

It is the first time McCormick has played a competitive game following his release from prison after previously training with Swindon Town earlier in the year.

CUP RUNNETH OVER

The FA Cup involvement of the South West's four professional sides came to an end at the weekend as they all exited the competition at the first round stage.

Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle both bowed out to non-league opposition in the form of Harrogate Town and Dorchester Town respectively whilst Exeter City and Yeovil Town returned from their respective journeys to Bury and Preston North End with defeats.

A first half strike from Chibuzor Chilaka enabled Harrogate to avenge their cup exit at the hands of Torquay in the 2005-06 season.

Meanwhile, at the Avenue Stadium, Exeter City loanee and former Plymouth Argyle junior Jake Gosling scored the decisive goal for Dorchester, which secured victory for the Dorset side, in a tie that was broadcasted live on ESPN.

This condemned the Pilgrims to their second cup defeat against non-league opposition in the space of two years, in a game which they were reduced to ten men after nine minutes following the dismissal of Conor Hourihane.

Former Yeovil defender Efe Sodje scored the decisive goal in Exeter's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bury, before he was dismissed for receiving a second yellow card, whilst ex-Torquay centre back Chris Robertson was amongst the scorers for Preston North End in their 3-0 victory over a Yeovil Town who were reduced to ten men after Ed Upson received his marching orders.

THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2013 ROUND 1 PART III

DORCHESTER TOWN VS PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

The TV cameras will be heading to Dorset’s county town on Sunday afternoon as Dorchester Town face Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup for the first time in over 50 years.

ESPN have selected the meeting between the Magpies of the Blue Square South and the Pilgrims of League Two as one of the featured live games and it could turn out to be a classic.

It will be the first time that Dorchester have played in the first round proper since 2008 and Argyle will be looking to avoid a repeat of their first round exit last year at the hands of Southern League Stourbridge.

The tie will also see Pilgrims’ boss Carl Fletcher return to a ground where he played for a brief spell in his career during his time at Bournemouth during in the 2001-02 season whilst Dean Court was being redeveloped.

In his first full season as a manager, Fletcher will no doubt be aware of the rewards a good cup run can bring to the Pilgrims, who are now in ‘good financial fettle’ one year after they were brought out of Administration by chairman and owner James Brent.

As a player, Fletcher played in the West Ham United will no doubt be looking to add to his own personal FA Cup history as manager of the Pilgrims. He will also be aiming to add to Argyle’s own cup story, which includes their famous Semi Final appearance in 1984.

THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2013 ROUND I PART II

PRESTON NORTH END VS YEOVIL TOWN

Before they won promotion to the Football League in 2003, Yeovil Town were famed for their giant killing exploits in the FA Cup.

Now as a league team they face Preston North End, former winners of the competition and one associated with figures such as Sir Tom Finney and Bill Shankly, on equal terms as they are both currently level on 22 points in Npower League One only separated by goal difference.

The Glovers will find themselves up against a couple of familiar faces in the form of Preston manager Graham Westley, who they encountered during their non-league days when he was in charge of Farnborough Town.

On the pitch, they will be up against former skipper Paul Huntington who left Huish Park for Deepdale during the close season.

Gary Johnson’s side will also looking to improve on their previous showing at Preston earlier in the season when they were beaten 3-2.

During his first spell as Yeovil manager, Johnson enjoyed a number of good runs in the cup, as he guided the Glovers to the third round in the 2002-03 season where they faced Liverpool in the third round and the fourth round in the 2004-05 campaign where they were beaten by Charlton.

Going into Saturday’s tie, he has received a boost from the news that Irish striker Paddy Madden has extended his loan spell from Carlisle United, but he is still awaiting to hear if the Cumbrians will allow him to play.

BURY VS EXETER CITY

In 2005, Exeter City made national headlines after they famously held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford in the third round.

They then gave a good account of themselves in the replay at St James Park, losing 2-0 to the Red Devils, earning vital revenue from gate receipts and TV coverage, which helped put the club back onto a firmer financial footing.

However, that was the last time that the Grecians have reached the third round of the competition to date and, as they head to Greater Manchester this season to face Bury, they will be looking to improve upon that record.

Recent history does not support Exeter’s cause as they have beaten by the Shakers, who are currently managed by former Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Kevin Blackwell, twice in recent seasons, both times at Gigg Lane.

Their first defeat came in the 2007-08 campaign and the second loss came three years later in the 2010-11 season.

Nevertheless, they have been boosted by the return to full fitness of Alan Gow, a player who will need to on the top of his game to help the Grecians reach the second round.

THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2013 ROUND I PART I

Tomorrow will see Yeovil Town, Torquay United, Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle join the road to the final at Wembley in May.


Ahead of each side’s respective cup clashes, we will now look in greater depth at what lies ahead for each of the South West’s professional teams.

TORQUAY UNITED VS HARROGATE TOWN

The Gulls were forced to wait to discover the identity of their first round opponents after Harrogate and their fourth qualifying round foes Hyde United needed a replay to decide the outcome of their tie.

Then, their re-match at Harrogate’s Wetherby Road ground was postponed twice before it eventually took place at the home of their neighbours, Harrogate Railway, which they won 1-0.

Town, of Conference North, faced the Gulls twice in the competition in the 2005-06 campaign, before losing the replay on penalties, and are managed by former Lincoln City man Simon Morgan who is assisted by former Grimsby Town stalwart John McDermott.

Their squad contains a number of players with Football League pedigree including former Macclesfield goalkeeper and Cape Verde international Jose Veiga, ex Derby and Burton Albion midfielder Adam Bolder and playmaker Lee Elam, a player who is no stranger to the South West having appeared for Yeovil, Weymouth and Exeter City during his career.

In recent years, Torquay have enjoyed a number of good runs in the competition, having made it as least as far as the second round in every year since the 2005-06 season.

Ironically their run in the competition during that campaign started with a win over Harrogate in the first round. A win over Notts County then followed in round two before they took Birmingham City to replay after playing out a memorable goalless draw at Plainmoor.

Other highlights have included beating Yeovil Town 4-1 in a game screened live by the BBC and reaching the fourth round twice in the 2008-09 & 2010-11 seasons respectively.

THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2013 #2

The first round of the 2012-13 FA Cup will see a number of South West clubs on their travels.

Plymouth Argyle will be heading across the Devon border into Dorset to face Conference South side Dorchester Town at the Avenue Stadium, a ground which Pilgrims boss Carl Fletcher briefly called home during the 2001-02 season when his former club, AFC Bournemouth, ground-shared with the Magpies whilst Dean Court was undergoing redevelopment.

Exeter City and Yeovil Town will be heading north to Lancashire to face previous cup winners Bury and Preston North End in their respective first round ties.

The Grecians have met the Shakers, who are currently managed by former Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Kevin Blackwell, twice in the cup in recent years in the 2007-08 and 2010-11 campaigns and lost on both occasions.

They will be looking to make amends for those two results this time round.

The Glovers will be up against former skipper Paul Huntington when they travel to Deepdale to face the Lillywhites. They will also be looking to make amends for the 3-2 defeat they suffered at the hands of Preston at Deepdale at the end of September.

Meanwhile, Torquay United will be the only South West side who will be at home in round one as they play host to either Harrogate Town or Hyde who meet in a fourth qualifying round replay on Tuesday.

It will be the first time that the Gulls have faced Hyde should the Manchester based side come out on top and if Harrogate were to win, it will be the first time that they have encountered the Gulls since the 2005-06 season.

On that occasion, Torquay came out on top following a penalty shoot-out win in a replay, which provided the Gulls with a springboard to beat Notts County and then memorably drew with Birmingham City in the third round before losing out in a replay at St Andrews.

RENE EQUALS RECORD DESPITE THE GULLS DEFEAT

Torquay United's Rene Howe equalled the club record for scoring consecutive games, after finding the back of the net for the seventh time in a row, despite seeing the Gulls go down to defeat against Bristol Rovers.

Howe, who spent a brief spell on loan with the Pirates in the 2010-11 season, pulled a goal back for the Gulls, who were reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Joe Oastler, after Tom Eaves and Matthew Lund had given Rovers a two goal lead.

Aussie defender Aaron Downes then headed home an equaliser for the Gulls before Eaves bagged a brace with the Pirates third and decisive goal of the afternoon to seal a 3-2 win.

Rene Howe now joins Sammy Collins and Carl Airey in scoring in seven straight games. He now has the opportunity to claim the record outright if he can find the target against Gillingham, another club he has had a brief loan spell with previously in his career, on Tuesday night.

Sammy Collins: 1954-55 season 

22/09/54 vs Shrewsbury Town H W 2-0 Sammy Collins, Jack Smith
25/09/54 vs Brighton and Hove Albion H W 2-1 Sammy Collins (2)
27/09/54 vs Shrewsbury Town A L 2-3 Sammy Collins, Don Mills
02/10/54 vs Exeter City H W 1-0 Sammy Collins
09/10/54 vs Norwich City A L 1-5 Sammy Collins
16/10/54 vs Southend United H W 4-1 Sammy Collins, Don Mills, Harold Dobbie
23/10/54 vs Aldershot A L 1-2 Sammy Collins

Carl Airey: 1989-90 season

07/10/89 vs Doncaster Rovers H W 2-0 Carl Airey, Paul Smith
13/10/89 vs Cambridge United A L 2-5 Mark Loram, Carl Airey
17/10/89 vs Hartlepool United H W 4-3 Sean Joyce (2), Carl Airey, Paul Smith
21/10/89 vs Aldershot A  W 2-1 Carl Airey, Sean Joyce
31/10/89 vs Wrexham A D 1-1 Carl Airey
04/11/89 vs York City A D 1-1 Carl Airey
11/11/89 vs Carlisle United H L1-2 Carl Airey

Rene Howe: 2012-13 season 

18/09/12 vs AFC Wimbledon A W 1-0 Rene Howe
22/09/12 vs Burton Albion H D 1-1 Rene Howe
29/09/12 vs Chesterfield A D 1-1 Rene Howe
02/09/12 vs Aldershot Town H W 4-3 Billy Bodin, Ryan Jarvis, Ashley Yeoman, Rene Howe
06/10/12 vs Wycombe Wanderers A L 1-2 Rene Howe
13/10/12 vs Accrington Stanley H W 3-1 Rene Howe (pen), Billy Bodin, Lee Mansell
20/10/12 vs Bristol Rovers A L 2-3 Rene Howe, Aaron Downes      

TRURO SAVED FROM CONFERENCE EXPLUSION

An 11th hour bid by two businessmen has saved Truro City from explusion from the Blue Square South.

Pete Masters, who runs a nightclub in the city, and Phillip Perryman owns a taxi firm in Truro have both agreed with the Football Conference to pay a £50,000 bond, which covers travelling costs of teams making the journey to Treyew Road for Blue Square South matches.

The intervention of Messrs Masters and Perryman ensures that Truro City will be able to carry on trading for the entirety of the 2012-13 season and will allow the sale of the club, which is currently in Administration after former Chairman Kevin Heaney was declared bankrupt earlier this year, to go ahead.

HOWE AIMING TO EQUAL RECORD

Torquay United striker Rene Howe will be aiming to join a select band of Gulls' player who have scored in seven consecutive league fixtures when Torquay face Bristol Rovers this weekend.

Howe, who is currently the Gulls' top scorer in the current campaign with nine goals to his name, will draw level with Sammy Collins and Carl Airey who found the back of the net in seven straight league games for Torquay in the 1954-55 and 1989-90 seasons respectively.

It is also worth noting that he was on target for the Gulls against the Pirates last season at the Memorial Stadium in a game that saw Torquay face former manager Paul Buckle, who had at that point recently left Plainmoor to take charge of the Pirates.

The Rovers side on show that day included five former Torquay players, namely Scott Bevan, Craig Stanley, Mustapha Carayol, Chris Zebroski and Jo Kuffour, whilst Howe was the sole former Pirate appearing for the Gulls.

Howe scored the opening goal as the Gulls ran out as 2-1 winners and many of the Torquay faithful will be hoping for a repeat performance and result.

On Saturday, however, he will be one of three former Pirates players who will be set to feature for the Gulls, along with Aussie defender and recent League Two team of the week nominee Aaron Downes and goalkeeper Michael Poke, who both enjoyed loan spells at the Memorial Stadium last season.

Howe is also the first Torquay player to come within touching distance of equalling the record since David Graham found the back of the net in six consecutive games during the 2002-03 season.

GLOVERS PROGRESS AT GULLS EXPENSE

The South West's interest in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy shrunk from three clubs to two as Yeovil Town edged out Torquay United by the narrowest of margins.

The Gulls took the lead in the 25th minute when Ryan Jarvis slotted home following good build up play involving Danny Stevens and Billy Bodin.

Yeovil drew level on 38 minutes when James Hayter stabbed home from close range after a mistake by Torquay keeper Michael Poke.

However, Torquay restored their advantage in the 58th minute when Danny Stevens picked out Jarvis who completed his double with an angled shot.

This looked to have been enough to clinch victory for the Gulls before Hayter bagged a brace of his own when he found the target from six yards, which would send the tie straight to penalties at full-time.

Hayter, Ed Upson, Gavin Williams and Jamie McAllister all converted their spot kicks for the Glovers, whilst for the Gulls, Tom Cruise had his penalty saved by Yeovil keeper Marek Stech in the middle of Lee Mansell, Nathan Craig, Billy Bodin and substitute Rene Howe successfully converting their penalties before Keanu Marsh-Brown scored the Glovers' crucial fifth spot-kick.

Yeovil will now face Wycombe Wanderers in the Southern Area Quarter Finals and will feel confident that they can make real progress in the competition this season.

Despite the defeat, Gulls boss Martin Ling can take some positives from the defeat, namely the fact that his side were able to match League One opposition for most of the match and the fact Ryan Jarvis scored twice after coming in for leading scorer Rene Howe.

ARGYLE HOME ALONG WITH GLOVERS OR GULLS

As a reward for beating Aldershot Town on Tuesday night in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Plymouth Argyle have been drawn at home to Oxford United in the competition's Southern Area Quarter Finals.

It will be the first time that the U's have visited Home Park since the penultimate home game of the 2012-13 season, which saw the Pilgrims secure the point they needed to secure their League Two status.

Meanwhile, a home tie with Wycombe Wanderers awaits either Torquay United or Yeovil Town, who meet each other this coming Tuesday after the original fixture was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Both sides will see the match as a good opportunity to progress through to the Southern Area Semi-Finals should they come out on top should they emerge victorious at Plainmoor later this week.

TRURO GIVEN EXTRA TIME

Truro City now have until October 18th to find the cash needed to ensure their membership of the Football Conference.

The White Tigers had faced explusion from the Blue Square South last Thursday if they failed to raise the £50,000 for the bond which would allow to compete in the League.

However, even if Truro are able to find the necessary funds to stay in the league, manager Lee Hodges will face a difficult task in persuading many of his players to remain at Treyew Road as many of them are owed three months wages.

The club is also on the outlook for a new owner after former Chairman Kevin Heaney was declared bankrupt earlier this year.

Also the club's Administrator, Walsh and Taylor, have said the Football Conference bond will depend upon getting security of tenure over the club's Treyew Road ground from current owners JoJo Investco Limited.

This weekend's trip to Dover Athletic, which was postponed earlier this week, has not been re-instated.

ARGYLE DOWN THE SHOTS WHILST GULLS AND GLOVERS RAINED OFF

Plymouth Argyle avenged their opening day defeat at the hands of Aldershot Town by knocking the Shots out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Paris Cowan-Hall's opener for the Pilgrims was cancelled out by Craig Reid before Andres Gurrieri sealed the victory for Argyle with the decisive second goal in the 2-1 win.

The Pilgrims, who fielded three debutants in the form of goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin, rookie defender Jamie Richards and on loan defender Scott Griffiths will now wait until Saturday to find out the identity of their opponents in the Southern Area Quarter Finals.

Also waiting on the draw will be Torquay United and Yeovil Town after their tie was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, they meet again next Tuesday at Plainmoor.

TORQUAY AND YEOVIL: A RECENT HISTORY

Round two of the 2012-13 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy will see Torquay United face Yeovil Town in the competition for the second time, almost eight years to the date of their first.

On that day, only two league places separated the two sides as the Gulls lay 23rd in League One, after winning automatic promotion in the previous 2003-04 campaign, and the Glovers were top of League Two in what was only their second season as a league club.

A crowd of 1,610 poured into Plainmoor to see Torquay take the lead through Jo Kuffour on 17 minutes before Latvian international Andrejs Stolcers, who had represented his country in Euro 2004 during the close season, levelled for the visitors three minutes before half-time.

Early in the second half, two goals from skipper Craig Taylor and Bayo Akinfenwa, his first for the Gulls, in the 53rd and 59th minutes respectively gave Torquay a 3-1 lead.

However, the Glovers, famed for claiming a number of higher division scalps during their non-league days, weren’t to be undone as strikes from Adrian Caceres and Bartosz Tarachulski saw Yeovil level at 3-3 and sent the tie into extra time.

With four minutes remaining, and the game set to be heading for penalties, Akinfenwa scored a late winner for the Gulls.

Then, as part of his celebration, ran into the Family Stand behind the goal and sat down in an empty seat, a decision which earned him a red card as Torquay played out the final four minutes with ten men, but they still hung on to their slender advantage to win.

Torquay would exit the competition in the next round following a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Northampton Town and at the end of the season.

The two sides would swap divisions at the end of the season as a 2-1 defeat at Colchester on the final day of the campaign saw the Gulls relegated to League Two, whilst the Glovers clinched the League Two title with a 3-0 victory over Lincoln City in their final fixture.

Two years later, both Torquay and Yeovil would experience further contrasting fortunes as the Gulls lost their Football League status for the first time in 80 years whereas the Glovers found themselves one game away from a place in the Championship after reaching the League One Play-Off final where they were beaten by Blackpool.

Their paths would cross again in the first round of the following season’s FA Cup, the most recent encounter between the two sides, which saw Torquay win 4-1 as Chris Todd and Danny Stevens both scored doubles to cancel out Marcus Stewart’s opener for Yeovil.

Footnote: Bayo Akinfenwa would join Swansea City at the end of the 2004-05 campaign and scored for the Swans in the 2006 LDV Vans Trophy final against Carlisle United.

PADDY POWER HELPS GLOVERS END LOSING STREAK

A debut brace from loan signing Paddy Maddern helped Yeovil Town end their six match losing run with a win over Colchester United.

Maddern recently arrived at Huish Park on loan from Carlisle United and opened his account for the Glovers in the 20th minute before Jabo Ibehre levelled for the U's five minutes later.

The Irishman then bagged his double on 34 minutes and his strike partner James Hayter then added a third in the second half to clinch Yeovil's second victory over Colchester this season having previously beaten them in the Capital One Cup.

Paddy was one of three loan signings in Gary Johnson's starting eleven, the other two were defender Daniel Burn and midfielder Korey Smith who are on loan from Fulham and Norwich City respectively.

In recent years, Yeovil have used the loan market to good effect, to the benefit of both themselves and the players whom they have recruited.

One player for whom this policy has proved to be hugely beneficial for is Spurs defender Steven Caulker who, after virtually sweeping the board at the Glovers' Player of the Year awards in the 2009-10 season during a season on loan from White Hart Lane, is now been given a run of games by Andre Villas-Boas.

Earlier today he managed to do for Spurs the one thing that he failed to do during his time at Huish Park, which was to score a goal when he found the back of the net in their 2-0 win over Aston Villa.

GULLS COME BACK FROM DEAD AGAINST SHOTS

When they found themselves three goals down against Aldershot Town on Tuesday night, most Torquay United fans feared the worse.

A Craig Reid hat-trick saw Aldershot, who featured former Gulls defender Guy Branston in the line-up, race into a comfortable lead before Billy Bodin pulled a goal back for Torquay.

Substitute Ryan Jarvis then reduced the deficit to one goal in the 69th minute before fellow sub Ashley Yeoman levelled on 84 minutes with his first goal for the Gulls.

This set Torquay up for a grandstand finish as leading scorer Rene Howe scored the decisive fourth for the Gulls with his seventh of the season as Martin Ling's completed a remarkable turnaround.

It is the first time the Gulls have cancelled out a three goal margin at Plainmoor since Adrian Foster's hat-trick from the substitutes bench saw them secure a 3-3 draw with Colchester United on September 4th 1993.

FINDING A FORMULA

Most Torquay United fans would be more than happy at the start of the season if they were told that, at this stage of the season, the Gulls would possess one of the best defensive records in League Two and star striker Rene Howe was amongst the division's most prolific strikers.

Whilst Torquay have the joint second best defensive record in League Two, which they share with Football League new boys Fleetwood Town, and Howe shares fourth place in the divsion's top scorer, after finding the back of the net six times in nine appearances, Martin Ling's side find themselves in mid-table.

In their nine league games thus far, the Gulls have won only once and have found the back of the net only ten times, which includes Howe's six strikes.

This is in stark contrast to last season when every regular starter found the back of the net apart from Joe Oastler and Damon Lathrope as Torquay found the back of the net 63 times in 46 league games.

Nearly half of that figure were scored by midfielders with skipper Lee Mansell scoring 13 times, Danny Stevens found the target ten times, the departed Eunan O'Kane scored five whilst Ian Morris hit the back of the net twice.

So far in the current campaign, Mansell and Stevens are both yet to get off the mark, whilst Morris has managed just the one goal.

It is also worth noting that the midfield area is one department where Ling has been forced to chop and change on a regular basis due to injuries.

Anchorman Lathrope, who was an influential for the Gulls when deployed as a holding midfielder in front of the back four, is yet to make an appearance so far this season due to injury.

As well as having to make do without Lathrope, Ling went into the Gulls' last game with Chesterfield without Nathan Craig, the former Everton starlet who has impressed since being given an extended run in the side, and Ian Morris, who is set to be out for several months with an achilles tendon injury sustained on the Friday before the game.

He then lost Craig Easton, a player who he knows well from his Leyton Orient days, to a hamstring injury within the first half hour and was forced to play Tom Cruise, who is primarily a defender, in central midfield.

With a settled midfield in place, there is no reason why Torquay can't improve on their current form, which has seen them emerge as a side who is tough to beat.

Once again, just like last season, the challenge of finding a winning formula is once again facing Martin Ling and his coaching staff.

HODGES KEEPING FINGERS CROSSED AS MASSEY DECLARES INTEREST

Truro City boss Lee Hodges admitted that he fears yesterday's away trip to Chelmsford City could be the club's last if they fail to find a new owner by the October 11th deadline set by the Football Conference.

Should the White Tigers will be expelled from the Blue Square South if a new owner is not found by that date and former Truro manager Steve Massey, who was in charge at Treyew Road between 2004 and 2006, has already declared an interest in buying the club.

Many players have already left Treyew Road and the remainder of Hodges' squad could be set to leave after Tuesday's game with Bath City.

"I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, holding out for that phone call that someone wants to buy the club and we'll have something to look forward to." said Hodges.

The White Tigers were beaten 3-2 yesterday by Chelmsford after making the 334 mile round trip to Essex yesterday after setting off from Truro in the early hours as they couldn't afford an overnight stay.

JOHN BOND REMEMBERED

During Frank O'Farrell's first spell as manager of Torquay United between 1965 and 1968, he raised the bar on everything that had been done before or since at Plainmoor and John Bond played a part in that success.

O'Farrell used his contacts with his former club, West Ham, to good effect to bring a number of players to Plainmoor from Upton Park, which included John, Ken Brown, Bill Kitchener, Tony Scott and John Smith.

John became the first of these signings to arrive at Plainmoor when he made his debut in a 4-3 home win over Bradford City on January 26th 1966.

Only 18 months earlier, Bond had been part of the West Ham side that won the 1964 FA Cup final at Wembley, where his teammates included future World Cup winners Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst.

Earlier in his career with the Hammers, he had been a teammate of O'Farrell's and a member of the West Ham Academy, which spawned a number of future managers, including Malcolm Allison and Dave Sexton.

He went on make a further 19 appearances for United as they won promotion from Division Four in the 1965-66 season, which was their second promotion to date.

John remained at Plainmoor until 1969, during which time he helped the Gulls to establish themselves in what is now League One and to record their highest ever league finish of 4th in the 'old' Third Division in the 1967-68.

He also ran his own newsagents in the town, which went by the name of 'Bondy's Tuckshop'.

After leaving Plainmoor, John embarked on a managerial career which saw him take charge of Bournemouth, Norwich City, Manchester City, Burnley, Swansea City, Birmingham City and Shrewsbury Town.

The highlights of his career in the dug out included taking Norwich to the 1975 League Cup final and leading Manchester City to the FA Cup final in 1981, which they lost to Tottenham Hotspur after a replay and one of the greatest cup final goals of all-time by Ricky Villa.

THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2013 #1

This weekend will see several of the South West's non-league side's taking part in the FA Cup second qualifying road with each side looking for success for different reasons.

Truro City, who recently entered Administration, will be looking to conjure up memories of happier times when they host AFC Totton in what will be a re-match of the 2007 FA Vase final, which the White Tigers won 3-1 at Wembley.

Many of the Truro side that featured that day including Jake Ash and Stewart Yetton and they will be looking to give the Treyew Road faithful something to smile about.

Newton Abbot based Buckland Athletic find themselves in unchartered territory as they play host to Bath City of Conference South.

However, Buckland, who gained entry to the Toolstation Western League Premier Division in the close season, after dominating the South West Peninsula League, will go into the tie in confident mood after beating Plymouth Parkway 5-1 in a replay in the previous round.

The match will also see Buckland's Dean Stevens face one of his former sides and the Devon side will be looking to ensure the Romans strikeforce of Charlie Griffin and Karl Guthrie, who have scored eight goals between them in Conference South this season, have a quiet afternoon.

Local pride will be a stake in Somerset as Frome Town of the Evo-Stik Southern Premier host Weston Super Mare of Conference South.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all sides involved in the Cup the very best of luck.

GRECIANS RECEIVE TRIBUNAL WINDFALL

On top of their impressive start to their League Two campaign, which sees them lie third in the table, Exeter City have received another boost.

A Football League tribunal has declared that they will receive £275,000 from the departures of Troy Archibald-Henville and James Dunne who both left St James Park in the summer to join Swindon Town and Stevenage respectively.

As the duo were both under 24 and out of contract, the tribunal ruled that the Grecians should receive £200,000 for defender Archibald-Henville, who initially joined Exeter on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in January 2009 before signing permanently for a fee of around £50,000 a year later, and £75,000 for Dunne, who also joined the Grecians in 2009 following his release by Arsenal.

Should Swindon win promotion to the Championship, the Grecians will receive another £40,000 and another £100,000 if the Robins reach the Premiership in the deal for Archibald-Henville.

Exeter will also be entitled to an extra £20,000 when Archibald-Henville reaches the 15, 30, 45 and 60 games for the Robins and extra payments of £25,000 when Dunne plays 25 and 50 games for Stevenage.

GULLS GET GLOVERS, WHILST THE PILGRIMS FACE THE SHOTS

As a reward for defeating Bristol Rovers in the opening round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Yeovil Town face another local tie as they travel to Torquay United.

The Glovers have met the Gulls once in the competition in the 2004-05 season. Torquay won the tie 4-3 with Bayo Akinfenwa netting a brace.

Plymouth Argyle, who like Torquay, also received a bye into the second round, host Aldershot Town in what will be the third meeting between the two sides in the current calendar year.

The Pilgrims won the first meeting 1-0 on Easter Monday with Burnley loanee Alex MacDonald, who recently returned to Home Park for a second loan spell, scoring the game's decisive goal.

Their most recent meeting came on the opening day of the Npower League Two campaign, which Aldershot won 2-0.

THE DEVON MINI-LEAGUE # ROUND 1

The first Devon derby of the season saw Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle share the spoils in a goalless draw.

In the first half, the Argyle backline had to be at their very best as Ian Morris and Lee Mansell both went close for the Gulls and Danny Stevens, who was making his first start of the season for the hosts, also tested the Pilgrims defence.

Argyle also carved out a chance of their own in the opening 45 minutes as Robbie Williams forced a superb save from Michael Poke from a free-kick on 40 minutes.

The Pilgrims made a strong start to the second half and Poke had to be at his best to deny Warren Feeney in the 58th minute when he turned a headed effort from the Northern Ireland striker behind for a corner.

Moments later, Conor Hourihane went close for the Pilgrims as they enjoyed the better of the second period.

Billy Bodin came close to snatching a late winner for Torquay in the 89th minute when his goal bound shot was blocked by Durrell Berry as both sides settled for a point apiece.

The next Devon derby action will be taking place in December with three matches in the space of a fortnight as the Pilgrims travel to St James Park to face Exeter City on December 15th.

A week later, the Grecians make the trip to Plainmoor, four days ahead of the re-match between the Gulls and the Pilgrims on Boxing Day.

TRURO LOSE TEN POINTS

Following the announcement that they would be filing for Administration, Truro City have been deducted ten points, which sees them sink to the bottom of Blue Square Bet South.

The adjustment sees the White Tigers prop up the table with minus two points in the wake of the news that Kate Breeze, of law firm Walsh Taylor, has been appointed as the club's Administrator.

This comes following the news that Truro have seen their hearing for an unpaid tax bill, which was due to be heard on Monday, has been adjourned for a fortnight.

DAVE SMITH- THE CIDER MAN IN PROFILE

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Ahead of Saturday’s first Devon derby of the 2012-13 campaign between Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle, we will now take a look at the career of Dave Smith, a man who served both clubs as manager with distinction.

Scotsman Dave Smith’s affinity with the West Country began in 1984 when he was appointed as manager of Plymouth Argyle as successor to Johnny Hore.

Following brief spells as a player with Burnley, Brighton and Hove Albion and Bristol City, Smith had first entered management in 1974 when he took charge of Mansfield Town whom he led to promotion from the ‘old’ Division Four in 1975.

Smith also guided the Stags to the Quarter Finals of the League Cup and the Semi-Finals of the Anglo-Scottish Cup.

He later moved onto Southend United where he won two further promotions from the fourth Division in 1978 and 1981.

Smith remained with the Shrimpers until 1983 when he left following a takeover and spent the next year selling insurance when he returned to the football management to take charge of the Pilgrims.

Following his appointment at Home Park in 1984, Argyle were in the lower reaches of the Third Division, but he managed to stabilise the club and steered them to safety.

In his first full season in charge, the 1985-86 campaign, Smith led the Pilgrims to automatic promotion from the ‘old’ Third Division, with a second-placed finish in the table, which was clinched with a 4-0 win over Bristol City at Home Park.

A major factor in seeing them over the line in the season was the re-signing of Tommy Tynan, initially on loan, from Rotherham United. The deal was made permanent at the end of the season as Tynan went on to find the back of the net on a regular basis for Argyle for the next few seasons.

After clinching their return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1977, the Pilgrims went from strength to strength under Smith as they finished 7^th in the ‘old’ Second Division, Championship in modern day terms, in the 1986-87 season, which remains the Pilgrims’ highest post-war league finish to date.

His achievements whilst at Argyle earned him the nickname of ‘the Ciderman’, as he became one of the Pilgrims’ most popular managers of modern times.

There was also genuine belief amongst the Home Park faithful that Smith could be the man to lead Argyle into the top-flight for the first time in their history.

However, it wasn’t to be as Smith received an offer that he couldn’t refuse as he left Home Park in 1988 to manage Dundee.

His spell at Dens Park would last for seven months before he made his return to Devon when he was appointed as manager of Torquay United in October 1989.

At the time of his arrival at Plainmoor, the Gulls were 23^rd in the ‘old’ Division Four after Cyril Knowles had resigned following a disagreement with Chairman Lew Pope.

Nevertheless, Smith managed to stabilise Torquay and eventually guided them to a 15^th place finish in the table and led them to the fourth round of the FA Cup. They caused a memorable upset in the third round as they recorded a 1-0 win over West Ham United.

The following season, Smith set about building a side that would be capable of challenging for promotion and, with money made available to him by new Chairman Mike Bateson, he put his wealth of contacts to good use to attract new faces to Plainmoor.

One of his first signings was former Newcastle United defender Wes Saunders, who he paid his former club, Dundee, £60,000 for.

This was followed by the signings of Tommy Tynan and Peter Whiston after they were released by the Pilgrims.

Once the campaign got under way, the Gulls got off to a flying start and were unbeaten in their opening 14 league games of the season, which saw them lead Division Four.

One of the key factors in this impressive run of form was the goals of Tynan. The veteran front man proved he hadn’t lost the knack of finding the back of the net as he scored eight goals during this sequence, including his 300^th career goal in a 3-0 win over Carlisle United on October 27^th 1990.

However, the second half of the campaign saw a number of inconsistencies creep into their form and by April, the Gulls had dropped into the bottom half of the table, which prompted Dave Smith to resign and retire from football management for good.

His successor, John Impey, eventually led Torquay to promotion, via the Play-Offs as they defeated Blackpool 5-4 on penalties after drawing 2-2 in normal time, with the team which Smith had assembled. 

Smith almost returned to the Home Park dugout in 1995 when he was approached by the Argyle board to assist with first team affairs following the suspension of Peter Shilton, but he declined the offer.

In recent years, he has been running a highly successful soccer school in the Plymouth area, where he settled following his retirement.

PAINT IT GREEN AND WHITE

Yeovil Town are firmly on the road to Wembley after they defeated Bristol Rovers in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy to join Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle in the next stage of the competition.

A brace from Ed Upson get the Glovers on their way before he turned provider in the 90th minute to set up Sam Foley for his first goal since his summer move from Newport County.

They were also reduced to ten men when Jamie McAllister received a straight red card in the 77th minute.

The Glovers will now join Torquay and Plymouth in the next stage of the competition after they both received byes.

However, Exeter City, Southern Area finalists in 2011, bowed out of the Trophy after they were beaten on penalites 4-3 by Aldershot Town.

A YELLOW PRODUCTION LINE

Waiting for Torquay United youth team players making their full debuts for the Gulls, it seems, is like waiting for buses, you spend a long time waiting for one and then two come along at once.

Following Niall Thompson's full debut for Torquay against Rochdale last week, the first full debut by a Gulls youth product since Jimmy Benefield in 2003, Kirtys MacKenzie has also made the step up from youth graduate to first team debutante.

He marked his first start for Torquay against Port Vale with an assured showing at centre back.

The development of the pair is a testament to the hard work of the youth development department at Plainmoor, now headed by Geoff Harrop, since it was relaunched in 2007 after originally being closed down by former Chairman Mike Bateson in 2004.

However, the real hard work for both Thompson and MacKenzie starts now.

One test of the real strength of youth development scheme at any football is not on whether it is able to produce players who generate big transfer fees, it's whether it can unearth players who can go on to become regulars in the first team.

The last two players to progress from the Plainmoor youth ranks in recent times and then went on to make over 100 appearances for the Gulls' first XI were Matt Hockley (2000-2008) and Steve Tully (1997-2002).

Both of the aforementioned players are still playing, Hockley for Bideford in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier) and Tully for Exeter City in Npower League Two, but before them you have to go back to Tony Bedeau (1995-2006 & 2007-2008) and Wayne Thomas (1995-2000) to find former youth team graduates who had become first team regulars.

Before their emergence, you also had the likes of Darren Moore, Chris Curran and Duane Darby playing regularly in the first team and then there was also Lee Sharpe, who made 19 appearances in the 1987-88 season before he was whisked off to Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson. 

It is also worth noting that players such as Garry Monk, Matthew Gregg, Luke Guttridge and Mike Williamson who had had short spells with the Gulls before moving on to other clubs after coming through the club's youth set up.

Questions will asked about why the Gulls youth system had stopped unearthing players worthy enough of first team football such as coaching and scouting of players.

One factor could be attributed to the departure of Chief Scout John James to Plymouth Argyle in the late 1990's.

It is no coincidence that during his time at Home Park, James identified a number of young players from across the South West, who have featured in the Pilgrims first team, including Brixham born Dan Gosling, who has since appeared for Everton and Newcastle United.

The fact that Gosling moved from Home Park to Everton for £2.5million in January 2008 is one that many of the Plainmoor faithful would find quite frustrating given that Gosling grew up virtually on the Gulls' doorstep and played local youth football in and around the Bay.

However, now the Plainmoor youth department is now back up and running and for messrs Thompson, MacKenzie et al there is an opportunity to progress with their careers as footballers which wouldn't have been available to them several years ago.

TRURO RECORD WIN IN FACE OF ADVERSITY

In what could possibly be their last ever fixture in Conference South, Truro City registered a win against Boreham Wood at Treyew Road.

The White Tigers, who's future is now looking extremely uncertain following the news that they are filing for Administration yesterday, took the lead in the 27th minute through club record goal scorer Stewart Yetton.

On the stroke of half-time, Truro were reduced to ten men and visitors to nine when Boreham Wood's Ben Nunn committed a rash challenge on Truro youngster Cody Cooke, which was then followed by the double dismissal of City skipper Jake Ash and Boreham Wood's Charlie O'Loughlin, following a tussle between the two players.

Full-back Ben Williams doubled Truro's lead in the second half when he headed home an Adam Kelly cross before the visitors were reduced to eight men after Luke Garrard received his marching orders for an altercation with Yetton.

The drama now switches from the pitch to the High Court as Truro face a winding up order over an unpaid tax bill of £15,000.

This announcement was made by Chairman Chris Webb, who recently took over the role after Kevin Heaney stood down from the position after he was declared bankrupt by Truro County Court a week ago.

NO CAPITAL GAINS FOR GLOVERS OR GREENS

The Capital One Cup campaigns of Yeovil Town and Plymouth Argyle both came to an end as they went down against higher league opposition.

Yeovil, famed for the cup giant-killing exploits during their non-league days, came close to causing an upset against West Bromwich Albion.

Reuben Reid gave the Glovers an early lead against one of his former clubs, but the Baggies struck back through Chris Brunt before Shane Long gave the visitors the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Early in the second half, Reid bagged a second before Yassine El Ghanassy edged the Baggies ahead with a shot that deflected in off Team GB defender Craig Dawson before Long added a fourth to complete his brace.

Reid’s former club, Plymouth Argyle, also bowed out despite putting up brave resistance against Championship side.

After 90 minutes, the match, which saw Pilgrims boss Carl Fletcher pit his managerial wits against his former Bournemouth teammate, Eddie Howe, remained level at 1-1, after a late Robbie Williams penalty cancelled out Charlie Austin’s opener for the Clarets, thus forcing the tie into extra time.

Following the 30 minutes time added, the scores still remained equal and the tie was eventually settled by a penalty shoot out.

The Clarets came out on top, winning 3-2 as Brian Stock converted the decisive spot-kick after keeper Brian Jensen had saved three Argyle penalties. Matt Lecointe and Maxime Blanchard were the successful spot-kick takers for the Pilgrims.

A TALE OF TWO DEBUTS

The date August 25th 2012 will go down as the day Torquay United recorded their first win of the 2012-13 campaign, against Rochdale.

It will also be remembered as the date Niall Thompson and Nathan Craig made their debuts for the Gulls.

Niall, a first year pro at 18,  started the game and played 75 minutes, whilst Nathan came off the bench for the last ten minutes as Torquay beat their East Lancashire opponents 4-2.

When Torquay axed their youth scheme in 2004, a system that had unearthed the likes of Mark Loram, Robbie Herrera, Lee Sharpe, Darren Moore, Garry Monk and Mike Williamson, it seemed as though the Plainmoor talent well had run dry.

However, the newly relaunched youth set up, which came into being in 2007, is starting to bear fruit following Niall's promising showing of in his first league outing.

The youngster had previously been used as a substitute against Championship side Leicester City in the Capital One Cup by Martin Ling, who was quick to praise his young charge.

"Niall Thompson had one of those debuts you dream about, it could have gone either way for him, but it went the right way and he was outstanding:" said Ling.

"I've not seen many better in terms of debuts, the lad has got to move onto the next level and keep on going.

"He's got something that we all dream about and that's scintillating pace."

Niall, who hails from Derby, is one of four youth products in the Gulls squad alongwith Kirtys MacKenzie, Ashley Yeoman and Saul Halpin.

Also making his first appearance in a Torquay United shirt in the Gulls' victory over Rochdale was Nathan Craig when he came on as a substitute for Billy Bodin.


Whereas Niall had progressed through the youth ranks at Plainmoor, Nathan's journey to South Devon was similar to that of the recently departed Eunan O'Kane, who made the switch from Torquay to AFC Bournemouth in the summer for a fee of £175,000.

Like Eunan before him, Nathan had been on the books of Premiership side Everton and had received international recognition with Wales at youth and Under-21 level with Wales, just as Eunan had been capped up Northern Ireland, prior to his switch to the Republic.

Nathan's teammates in Brian Flynn's young Dragons side included Darcy Blake, Neil Taylor and Andy King, all of whom have since earned full international honours, and despite being the youngest player in the side, at 19, he was handed the responsibility of taking all of the team's set pieces.

In the 2010-11 season, he was also handed his debut for the Toffees by David Moyes in a Europa League game against BATE Borisov.

However, at the end of the campaign, Nathan was released by Everton and on leaving Goodison Park, he encountered a number of the issues which had faced Eunan O'Kane had also encountered as many lower league clubs, now operating on tighter budgets in the recession, weren't prepared to give the time to nurture and develop his talents.

He was then forced to return to roots and signed for his hometown club, Lock Stock Welsh Alliance side, Caernarfon Town.

Luckily for Nathan, Martin Ling was alerted to his talents, in a similar way that Paul Buckle was tipped of about the talents of Eunan O'Kane after he returned home to Ireland to play for Coleraine, and he was offered a six-month deal until the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

During this time, he significantly expressed Ling enough to be offered a two-year deal, which will keep him at Plainmoor until the end of the 2013-2014 season.

Although both Niall Thompson and Nathan Craig may have taken different routes to join Torquay United, the pair both made their debuts on the same day and their time at Plainmoor could yet play a crucial role in helping to kickstart their careers in the game.

SOUTH WEST TRANSFER ACTIVITY

Yeovil Town:

Ins: Jamie McAllister (Bristol City), Reuben Reid & Keanu Marsh-Brown (Oldham Athletic), James Hayter (Doncaster Rovers) Marek Stech (West Ham United), Sam Foley (Newport County), Rohan Ince (Chelsea) Loan, Lewis Young & Byron Webster (Northampton Town), Nathan Ralph (Peterborough United), Gozie Ugwu (Reading) Loan

Outs: Paul Huntington (Preston North End), Andrew Williams (Swindon Town), Bondz N’gala (Stevenage), Billy Gibson (Cambridge United), Kieran Agard (Rotherham United)

Torquay United:

Ins: Ryan Jarvis (Walsall), Craig Easton (Unattached), Michael Poke (Brighton & Hove Albion), Thomas Cruise (Arsenal), Billy Bodin (Swindon Town), Aaron Downes (Chesterfield)

Outs: Bobby Olejnik (Peterborough United), Mark Ellis (Crewe Alexandra), Eunan O’Kane (AFC Bournemouth, Lathaniel Rowe-Turner (Luton Town), Ed Palmer (Kettering Town)

Exeter City:

Ins: Pat Baldwin (Southend United), Craig Woodman (Brentford), Kevin Amankwaah (Rochdale), Jamie Cureton (Leyton Orient), Matt Oakley (Leicester City), Arron Davies (Northampton Town), Tommy Doherty (Bath City)

Outs: Daniel Nardiello & David Noble (Rotherham United), Troy Archibald-Henville (Swindon Town), Richard Logan (Wycombe Wanderers), Lenny Pidgeley (Newport County), James Dunne (Stevenage), Billy Jones (Cheltenham Town), Callum Goss (Manchester United), Callum McNish (Braintree Town), Tom Nicholls (Hereford United) Loan

Plymouth Argyle:

Ins: Paris Cowan-Hall (Woking), Jamie Lowry (Chesterfield), Rene Gilmartin (Watford), Andres Gurreri (Burton Albion), Rhys Griffiths (Port Talbot Town), Johnny Gorman (Wolves) Loan,

Outs: Damien Johnson (Fleetwood Town), Luke Daley (Lincoln City), Simon Walton (Hartlepool United)